Recognizing rotated views of objects: Interpolation versus generalization by humans and pigeons

Abstract

Pigeons and humans were trained to discriminate between pictures of three-dimensional objects that differed in global shape. Each pair of objects was shown at two orientations that differed by a depth rotation of 90° during training. Pictures of the objects at novel depth rotations were then tested for recognition. The novel test rotations were 30°, 45°, and 90° from the nearest trained orientation and were either interpolated between the trained orientations or extrapolated outside of the training range. For both pigeons and humans, recognition accuracy and/or speed decreased as a function of distance from the nearest trained orientation. However, humans, but not pigeons, were more accurate in recognizing novel interpolated views than novel extrapolated views. The results suggest that pigeons' recognition was based on independent generalization from each training view, whereas humans showed view-combination processes that resulted in a benefit for novel views interpolated between the training views.